House-refrigerating apparatus



(No Model.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

T. L. RANKIN.

HOUSE REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

No. 316,292. Patented Apr. 21,1885.

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T, L. RANKIN. HOUSE RBFRIGBRATING APPARATUS. No. 316,292. I Patented Apr. 21, 1885.

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UNITE A STATES PATENT @rrrcn. I

THOMAS L. RANKIN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y. ASSIGNOR TO JACOB w. SKINKLE,

on CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. A

HOUSE-REFRIGERATING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 316,292, dated April 21, 1885.

Application filed Julyl i, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS L. RANKIN, of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in House-Refrigerating Apparatus; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cooling apparatus for buildings or other structures composed of severalcompartments, and its object is to establish a thorough circulation of a refrigerating-fluid through the said compartments economically and in such manner as to expose any leakage, so the latter may be quickly stopped.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby any waste from the pipes of the refrigerating-fluid, whether from leakage or other cause, may be quickly and readily resupplied.

The invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts hereinafter de scribed, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of a building showing my system of refrigeration applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a view showing a section of the refrigerating-coils and coils for the refrigerating-fluid to circulate in; and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the end of a portion of the refrigerating-coil sections.

Referring to the accompanying drawings by letter, W WV show the outer walls of a house in section, and Z. Z the respective floors and ceilings between the rooms of the same.

0 indicates a tank in the lowest room, designed to contain fa saline solution, preferably one of chloride of sodium-that is,oommon salt. From thelower part of said tank extends outward a pipe, B, provided with a valve, (Z, to the cylinder cof a pump, A, which pump may be driven by a reciprocating engine, f. The pipe B leads to the induction-port of the pump, and from the eduction-port of the same rises a pipe,

a, which ascends to the highest room of the building, as shown, or to the compartment of any structure farthest from the tank 0. At the top of the building the pipe a bends under the ceiling of the highest room and connects with the refrigerating-coil F, composed of the pipes F, connected at their alternate ends by the couplings Fig. 2.

f fare small pipes, runningthrough the pipes F and united by the alternate couplings m, as

shown clearly in Fig. 2. The endsn n of the coupled pipesfare connected to an ammoniacal'-gas apparatus in such manner that a current of said gas expanding from pressure is constantly kept up in the pipes f.j As said apparatus forms no part of this invention, illustration and further description of the same are unnecessary.

Theinnerend of the refrigerating-coilF connects with a pipe, D, which connects by the 0 cooling-pipe coil G with a parallel pipe, D, from which a pipe, D descends to a similar refrigerating-coil, F, pipe D, cooling-coil G, and pipe D, secured to the ceiling of the next room below. A pipe D similar to the former then carries the circulation to the next room below, and so on to the room in which is the tank 0, the apparatus in each room being mere reduplications of each other. In the lowest room the pipe D connects, by a pipe, D with the pipe B,

0 open and the pump Ain operation, the fluid go from the tank is drawn through the pipe B into the cylinder e and thence forced through the pipe to to the top of the building. It'thus passes through the pipes F of the coil F, and

is thoroughly chilled by the expanding gas in the tubes f. Thence it passes through the pipe D, and then through thecoil G,absorbing heat from the room. From the coil G it passesinto the pipe D, and thence descends by a pipeD, to the next lower room. It descends thus from room to room till it reaches thelowest one, and then passes both into the pipe D and the pipe IOO the coils G is rendered more equal in all partsof the coils, andno part of a room is rendered coolerthan another. In practice allthe pipes f of the different refrigerating-coils would communicate with the same ammoniacal-gas apparatus.

The whole system of pipes above described being in full view and readily accessible, any leakage therefrom will be easily discovered and readily repaired.

The tubes of which the coils N, Fig. 2, forming a coil G consist are of smaller diameter than the pipes Dand D, so that as the medium passes from the former to the latter pipe equal portions of it will pass through each coilN of a coil G. By this arrangement the medium while cool is more equally distributed through the coils G,and will absorb heat more equally over the surface of the coil,rendering the temperature of all parts of the room more nearly equal. The coilsNof a coil G are of such capacity that they will collectively deliver all of the medium from a pipe D to a pipe D.

Having thus described my invention, I claime 1. The combination, with atank for holding asaline solution and a pump connected therewith, of a system of pipes connected both with the tank and pump, extending through the rooms of a house or'compartments of a structure, and provided with valves, in such manner that the saline solution may be circulated through the pump andpipes only, or through the tank, pump, and pipes, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the storage-tank, the saline-solution-circulating pipes, and the actuating-pump, of pipes extending through coils in said saline-solution pipes and adapted to have ahighly-expansible gas passed through them and expanded within them from a compressed condition, substantially as specified.

3. In an apparatus to cool the rooms or com-- partments of a building,the combination,with the delivery pipe D, and the receiving-pipe D, equal in capacityto the pipe D, of the cooling coil G,con1posed of the secondary coils N, the united capacities of which equal the capacity of the pipe D or D, so that the said coils N will deliver all of the cooling medium from the former to the latter pipe without checking the flow of said medium,substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THOS. L. RANKIN.

' Witnesses:

STEPHEN GERBER, CHARLES J. F. MiiLLER. 

